


In His Shoes

by Fede_Green



Series: In Their Shoes [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst at times but not really - I'm not a fan, Body Swap, Happy Ending, M/M, Nico never told Percy about his feelings, Percico - Freeform, Set two years after BoO events, Spoilers from the series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-05-30 14:53:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6428761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fede_Green/pseuds/Fede_Green
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Percy knew he wasn't supposed to get a god pissed. Any god. They could have literally ruined – or worse, destroyed – your life. Percy had a lot of experience in that camp. He was a 19 year old demigod, son of Poseidon, survivor of two Great Prophecies that had been both about him. The boy kinda knew what he was putting himself into. </p><p>But he was Percy Jackson. And Percy Jackson sometimes used to forget to hold the comebacks.</p><p>So, when Eros had announced that he was going to spare his life, Percy had been relieved. Poor, naïve, sweet boy Percy Jackson. Nevertheless, one thought he should have known. One thought he should have expected something <em>that</em> bad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Weird Morning

**Author's Note:**

> Hellooooooooo everybody! I'm excccccited.
> 
> WARNINGS:  
> \- English is NOT my first language! I'm sorry guys. Tell me if you find mistakes.  
> \- BODY SWAP ALERT! BODY SWAP ALERT! Remember Freaky Friday? Yeah. That's it. Exactly. I _am_ mad.  
>  \- Spoilers from the series - opsy opsy.
> 
> ENJOY (hopefully) *-*

“Percy! _Gods_ , you're back!”

Annabeth widened her arms to welcome her ex-boyfriend on the deck of the Big House. Percy was a mess, dirty – probably stinking, too – and his clothes had been disturbingly ripped off, but he couldn't care less. He was finally home again.

“Wise Girl!”

The boy smiled brightly and hugged Annabeth with genuine happiness and relief. When they separated, the girl grinned knowingly and put a hand on her hip. “Where's the car that camp _kindly_ lent you before leaving?”

Percy scratched his neck and cleared his throat awkwardly. “Ah, that one. Well you know how things go during a quest. You're somewhere doing discretely fine... then something horrible happens. Let's just say that I basically spent all my money for bus tickets.”

Annabeth shook her head, but couldn't help but laughing lowly. Luckily she had a pretty clear idea of what Percy meant. “Mh. I suppose we gotta buy a new one, then.”

“It's probably in Tartarus right now.”

“Let's hope we're going to sell a real lot of strawberries this year.” She winked at him and they both chuckled. Percy wrapped an arm around her shoulder and they both entered the Big House. As usual, Chiron and Mr. D. were playing pinochle with two invisible opponents at the ping-pong table.

Mr. D. gazed at Percy briefly, immediately snorting like the sight was pissing him to death. “Ah. Johnson. You're alive.” Chiron limited himself to smile at the boy with pride. “So you succeeded? How surprising. What did Eros said? Anyway I won this turn.” He exposed his cards on the table for the centaur, who stroked his chin pensively.

“Ehm... yes. I'm alive,” Percy began, feeling slightly amused. “We had a little disagreement, but eventually he accepted the tribute.”

The god momentarily forgot about the game and raised his head to give Percy his complete attention. “A _disagreement_? With Eros?” Percy nodded, gaining a sarcastic chuckle from him. “About what?”

Percy frowned, trying to remember the latest events of his quest. “He didn't want to offer his help for the monsters' civil war and stuff, and tried to trick me into some stupid truth game about love. But he gave up when he understood that I was not going to give him such a satisfaction. He accepted to join the special council next month.”

Dionysus laughed, seeming genuinely entertained by that story. “He gave up you said? Yeah, for sure. Anyway... at least Zeus is not going to get pissed. Well done, I suppose. Now disappear from my sight.” When a thunder echoed from the outside and through the whole camp, the god rolled his eyes. “Yeah. All right. Kinda got it, father.”

Chiron didn't seem to have noticed about the thunder and turned around to look at Percy. “What do you mean with 'he gave up'? What happened exactly?”

Percy could feel Annabeth's eyes on him and blushed slightly. “Well... he said that he doesn't do anything for free. He wanted a confession in exchange of his help. But I told him that I wasn't there to entertain him or something and... he let me leave his palace.”

“So easily?”

“Sort of.”

Annabeth snorted sarcastically. “Percy. Watch out.”

The boy frowned in confusion and stared at both Chiron and Annabeth with stupor. “Why?! I defeated him with logic. So what?”

Mr. D. cleared his throat and chuckled again. “Little ungrateful demigod you are. So like your father, honestly. You should have done how you were told. If Eros wanted whatever the heck he wanted, you should have given it to him. You're gonna pay for that. Believe me.”

“It makes no sense!” Percy widened his arms to highlight his confusion. “He said that I was hiding my feelings to myself or something like that, but really. I'm not! I mean... even if I were, why should he care? It's none of his business.”

Dionysus raised an eyebrow at him seriously. “You're saying _love_ and _sex_ and company are not Eros' business? You're not just wrong, Peter. You're stupid.”

Percy was ready to shout something horrible at him, but Chiron wisely decided to interrupt him. “Anyway, Percy. We can't be sure. Maybe you have been lucky. Now go have some rest and then, at dinner tonight, we're gonna announce that you succeeded. Annabeth will give you your schedule for the next training sessions starting from Friday. Okay? Go now.”

Percy snorted loudly, trying to dissipate his anger towards the god, but managed to nod eventually. Annabeth smiled at him and pointed at the door with her head. “Come on, Seaweed Brain. You seriously need to take a shower.”

** **

A kind but loud knocking on his cabin door woke Percy up a few hours later. He had managed to finally take a shower – after _too many_ days without much to everyone's disgust – and to go to bed to have a peaceful and restoring sleep. When he got up from the bed Percy stretched a little and yawned openly. The great feeling of being perfectly rested gave him a dumb smile. With a few quick steps, he reached the front door and slammed it open. His best friend's face came to his sight, all smiley and happy in the dim light of the evening.

“Aquaman! Well done!”

Jason offered Percy his fist and the son of Poseidon chuckled, bumping his own fist against the other's. “Superman! I didn't even miss you. Not even a bit.”

Jason rolled his eyes knowingly and put his hands on his hips. “You've skipped dinner. You slept for something like... 12 hours straight.”

Percy whistled appreciatively. “Wow. That's impressive. What time is it?!”

“It's 10 pm.”

The boy widened his eyes. “Are you serious? Damn!”

Jason chuckled. “Can I come in? Let's have a chat. Then you can go back to sleep.” He winked at him and Percy smiled, letting the boy enter his cabin. Jason sighed tiredly and sprawled on his friend's bed. “How are you?”

Percy sat down next to him and frowned. Now that he was thinking about it, the sensation of being rested and regenerated had disappeared. Maybe he needed to sleep more? More than 12 hours? He felt his head going slightly dizzy. Maybe he was malnourished? “I feel... fine. Not completely in force.”

The son of Jupiter yawned. “That's amazing. You're saying you could sleep for another 10 hours?”

“Not really. I just feel.... _weird_. Does it make any sense?”

Jason sat up on the bed and frowned, suddenly serious. “Have you gone to the infirmary?”

“I'm not wounded or anything,” Percy shrugged, “I just... my head is spinning. _Gods_. This is terrible.” He squeezed his eyes for a couple of times, like he wasn't able to see properly. The son of Jupiter began feeling worried.

“Percy... I insist that you go to the infirmary. Maybe it's nothing and you just need a bit of ambrosia or something.

Percy shrugged again. “Yeah whatever. Let's see how I feel tomorrow morning... how's everybody? You did fine during my absence?” He tried to change the subject. Maybe the entire world would have stopped spinning around his eyes if he did.

Jason still looked a bit preoccupied, but decided to drop the subject anyway. Percy was surely able to tell if he was all right or not. “Yeah. Sure. Pipes is in New Rome to visit Hazel and Frank. She missed them,” he chuckled slightly, “and Leo... well. You know Leo. Annabeth and him are working on a seriously dangerous project that they don't want to tell me about. I think it's gonna be lethal and beautiful at the same time.”

“Sounds like the description of Annabeth,” Percy sighed amusedly. “Lethal and beautiful. Yup. It fits.”

The son of Jupiter bent his head to a side and raised an eyebrow knowingly. “How is it to be single? Have you met someone _interesting_ during your quest? Maybe some hot goddess or something? Or maybe a god.” He winked.

Percy laughed openly and shoved his friend teasingly on a shoulder. “Shut the fuck up. No... I've met no one. Obviously. I was a bit busy killing monsters and trying not to get poisoned and stuff. Plus, the gods I met were totally not my type.”

“Who did you meet?”

Percy gasped like he had suddenly remembered something important and chuckled at Jason's direction. “Your dad! You know? He insulted me a couple of times, but eventually he was fine with me. He basically menaced me,” he nodded pensively, “but it was all right. He didn't kill me.”

Jason smirked. “What did he want?”

“He warned me about the fact that we seriously needed Artemis and Eros on our side. Like I didn't know that. Seriously, does he think I'm stupid?” A thunder broke the silence of the night, making Jason looking at the ceiling like he could have seen through it. Percy shivered in terror. “Okay. I take it as a yes.”

Jason looked back at him and chuckled. “So you met Artemis and Eros.”

Percy nodded. “Yup. Artemis made me sleep in this small tent that... gosh. It was horrible. It looked like a prison or something. It had bars and I couldn't get out.”

“What?! Why? Hadn't you your own tent?”

“Of course!” the son of Poseidon shrugged. “I suppose that she was afraid I was going to deflower all her hunters. Like... in just one night? That's impossible. That's not even legal.”

Jason laughed openly and slapped Percy's shoulder for the indignation. “You're disgusting! They're, like, 11 years old or less! What a paedophile. Woah.”

Percy chuckled and scratched his neck tiredly. His head felt dizzier by the second, but he didn't want to bother Jason with that. He wanted to have a chat with him for a bit more. “Anyway. No, thank you. I could get eternal damnation for something like that.”

“Seriously? I have no idea of how it works. Did you meet Thalia?”

“I don't know either. Unluckily not, anyway. She was on a mission on her own with the monsters.”

Jason nodded pensively. “I can't believe I'm older than her, now.”

“Yeah. I know. That's amazing. I wonder what could have happened if...” Percy frowned a little. The room was spinning faster and he had to squint his eyes again to feel a bit better.

“Woah there!,” Jason almost shouted, grasping Percy's shoulders. “Lay down! You're so far from being fine, Perce.” He then kindly pushed his friend back on the mattress. Percy didn't oppose to that. He really felt like shit.

Percy massaged his own head for a while, with his eyes closed. “If Bianca had survived... I still can't stop thinking about it. It's been years now.”

Jason worriedly looked at him for a few instants. “Percy... have you talked to Nico?”

“About Bianca?”

“No, dumbass. You perfectly know about _what_.”

The son of Poseidon sighed thoroughly. “No. I haven't had the time yet.”

“Well... after you found him with that Hermes' guy dying... you know, he disappeared. He left camp. We have no idea where he is. I think he's ashamed for what has happened.”

Percy frowned and looked up at where Jason was sitting beside him on the bed. “It makes no sense. It's not his fault if Jamie died. He had been poisoned, Jay.”

“ _We_ know that. But there are people, Perce, who still think that Nico is dangerous and creepy. They don't trust him.”

The son of Poseidon closed his eyes slowly in an expression of emotional and physical pain. His heart was aching for what he was hearing about Nico, and his head was still giving him troubles. And it only seemed to get worse. “I have to find him.” He tried to get up, but Jason blocked him with his arms.

“You're going nowhere, my prince. Stop being stupid. We'll think about it when you'll get better.” Jason looked at him directly in the eyes, trying to reassure him. The son of Jupiter had this power to convince anyone about anything. Maybe Piper had given him some charmspeak lessons? Who knew.

Percy stared back at him for a while, struggling to decide whether going straight ahead looking for the son of Hades or rest. Eventually a sudden wave of nausea travelled from his feet to his mouth, making him grasp at his stomach painfully. He had just given up. “Okay. But promise me we're gonna look for him.”

“I promise,” Jason nodded, “sure. Now rest. You seriously look like shit.”

“This makes no sense. I was feeling all right just some hours ago.” Percy swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the knot which had just formed in his throat. “Jason. Jay, take me to the infirmary. There's something going extremely wrong.”

Jason frowned worriedly, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. “Percy? Are you all right? Percy. Percy!”

Percy was frantically gasping like he was about to die from suffocation at any moment. The son of Jupiter immediately got up from the bed and took the boy in his arms. Percy had just fainted. His lips were getting blue. Jason tried not to panic.

He struggled to open the door with Percy weighting on his chest, and then he began flying towards the infirmary. He didn't even think about running. There was no time to do that.

** **

When Percy opened his eyes, a sea of darkness overwhelmed him. He had no idea of what time it was. Where he was. And why he was there. He felt his body surprisingly light against the mattress. The pain he remembered before fainting had disappeared. He could breathe properly again. His body wasn't aching anymore. At the sudden realisation that Jason had lifted him to bring him to the infirmary, Percy frowned. There was no way he was in the infirmary. There was too much darkness in that place. Where was he?

Percy sat up and his eyes began adjusting to the dim light of the room. There were no windows. He couldn't hear anything. Not even a voice or a sound of steps from the outside. Everything was deadly silent. He swallowed hard and his breath began accelerating. Percy was slowly panicking. He was sure he didn't know that place. When he tried to get up, he noticed that he was laying in a giant bed with silk sheets.

 _What the fuck_?!

He didn't have silk sheets! No one had silk sheets at camp. Where the hell did Jason bring him? Once he was sitting up in the strange bed, he noticed something else. He had hair on his face, tickling his nose annoyingly. Percy always used to make sure to have a haircut at least once every month. Where all that damn hair was coming from?! What was going on?!

Percy's hands immediately flew to his head and he began touching his forehead and ears like he felt they didn't belong to him. He was panting. Why did his arms felt so light and tiny? Why was he feeling like the warmth of his body was at an unknown temperature for him? Everything about his body made no sense! His skin was too smooth – he had a bit of beard. Where did it go?! -, his hands too little, and-

 _Oh_. Oh damn. Percy began touching everything on his body, almost crying in desperation. His legs were surprisingly hairless – what the _hell_? He didn't shave! -, his feet too sensitive. Not to mention his chest! Where the fuck were his muscles? He had muscles! Percy could feel a shy hint of them on his arms, but they weren't his!

Then a light popped in his head. His hands travelled down his body again. For the love of everything the Gods had done for the World...

Something was going _insanely_ wrong in his pants. Insanely. _Wrong_. There was no way _that thing_ was his. No fucking way.

Percy stopped touching himself under the fabric of his boxers – he felt a bit of a maniac, to be honest – and got up from the bed to his feet. In the exact moment in which they touched the floor, a bright light turned on in the room and almost blinded him. Percy squeezed his eyes shut, covering them with a hand.

“What the fuck!” He shouted with a voice that definitely wasn't his. When his eyes managed to adjust to the light, he glanced around the room.

 _By the Gods_.

He was in the middle of a giant room decorated in black and red things. The carpet was black, the furniture was black, the ceiling and the walls were red. The giant bed in which he was laying had black sheets and-

Oh _no_. Those were not bones on the headboard. No. Not on the headboard. They _composed_ the headboard. Percy swallowed hard, trying not to puke. Did he finish in a serial killer's den?!

“This surely is hell. This must be hell,” he murmured to himself. He even felt _shorter_! How was that possible?!

Percy glanced around the room with deep fear. He needed a mirror. Immediately. When he noticed that to his left side there was a black door, his eyes lit with hope. A bathroom, maybe? He basically threw himself against it and slammed the door open. And he was not prepared for the sight.

That _definitely_ was a bathroom. The most handsome one he had ever seen. Percy widened his mouth with great stupor and began slowly walking inside the big room, touching the walls and the furniture. There was a huge jacuzzi in the corner and a tiny room as a sauna. The sink was made of rubies harmoniously collocated next to each others in order to create a beautiful lights game on the ceiling. That place was unbelievable. It was literally covered with diamonds and other shiny things. Percy tried to imagine how much money that room could have been worth. He seriously had no idea. Probably millions of dollars.

“Holy shit...,” he murmured to himself. When he slowly turned around, he suddenly came face to face with his reflection in a giant mirror that covered a whole wall.

Percy paled. His mouth dried and his head went dizzy.

He wasn't... _himself_. He had lost at least 15 centimetres of height and he looked so scrawny that he got scared – he wasn't used to that. His hair was still dark brown, but it was a faint nuance lighter. It was shaggy and a complete mess. And his eyes weren't green anymore. They were chocolate brown. Not to mention that his skin was the same colour of milk. Pale. Deadly pale. Percy couldn't literally recognise himself in the mirror.

That was _hell_ , after all.

He was in Nico di Angelo's body.

In his room.

In the Underworld.

** **

When Percy managed to find some clothes to wear - Nico had a _great_ variety of pants and t-shirts in a _great_ variety of shades of black, so basically he had just two t-shirts (one of them was gaily yellow anyway, much to his surprise) and three pairs of black jeans in his closet -, he almost left the room without grabbing Nico's Stygian iron sword. The boy was going to kill him if he had left it there with no one's supervision.

He lifted it from a chair beside the bed and gasped in surprise. That _thing_ was heavy. How did Nico manage to hang it at his belt without having his pants falling down to his ankles? Those were the big questions. Percy hung it at his hip anyway. He couldn't leave it there.

When he carefully opened the door, his head popped in the middle of a long – scarily long – red corridor that curved in both directions. Percy had absolutely no idea where to go. He closed the door behind him and furtively looked around, trying to catch weird noises or voices with his ears. He didn't hear anything. At that was _worse_.

Percy angrily snorted and found himself whining in the silence of the corridor. He was feeling so lost that it was actually ridiculous. When he leaned with his back against the wall, something funny happened to him. All his senses tensed all of a sudden. It was like he could feel the emptiness of Nico's bedroom on the other side of the cement, like he could perceive that there was a large space. A light turned on in his head.

Of course! He was in Nico's body. He had his _powers_. That meant that, if he only knew how the fuck doing it, he could have shadow travelled out from there. Too bad that he had no idea of how succeeding in that. Percy decided to follow the reason – much to Annabeth's agreement, surely – and began walking down the corridor to find at least a bit of air. He felt like suffocating in that tiny space. And he didn't like tiny spaces. He had to get out from there.

Surprisingly, he managed to reach the ground floor – the one he had already seen when he was twelve years old – without getting lost. Walking around that palace wasn't a big deal, honestly. Or maybe they were Nico's powers to have helped him in that. Percy had no idea, he just felt relieved – even if he didn't know how he could feel like _relieved_ , trapped in Hades' realm without knowing how to shadow travel his ass out from there.

Mere details.

Percy was just about to leave the – miraculously – empty throne room, when a deep and creepy voice called him.

“Nico. I'm still waiting for an explanation for all of this.”

The son of Poseidon suddenly turned around. Hades had just appeared in his human semblances from what seemed to be some mysterious back room, his hands behind his back. Percy smiled awkwardly and waved a hand at him. The god suddenly stopped walking towards him, always maintaining his straight face, and raised an eyebrow. He then shook his head as if to get rid of a stupid thought and kept walking.

“Yes,” he frowned confusedly, “hi yourself. Nico, you promised you were going to talk to me about what has happened. You can't leave like that. You know that I don't like this.”

Percy frowned. That was a surprising new. Hades was a caring godly father? A kind father? A not-so-creepy father? Well. He wasn't expecting that. “Ehm... you know. Maybe I over-reacted,” _about whatever the heck you're talking about_ , “so I think... I'll just leave.”

Hades frowned and crossed his arms on his godly chest. “Ah. So you went back to your old habits. Avoiding talking to me, getting angry, shutting the world out. This is not how it works for my children. This is how you're gonna get miserable.”

The boy swallowed hard and began sweating - Nico sweated a real lot. That wasn't hygienic - and began wondering if it could have been a great idea to tell Hades about the bodies swap or not. What could have happened? It wasn't a mystery that the god didn't like him. They had some disagreements in the past. Maybe he was going to simply kill him to let his actual son have his body back.

No wait. Hades wasn't sadistic like that. Or maybe he was?

“You've got a point,” Hades raised his eyebrow higher at those words, “but you know... I have _stuff_ to do.”

“Stuff?”

Percy nodded. Hopefully, the god was going to let him leave without being so dramatic. But when he noticed that he was approaching him with a concerned expression, Percy began regretting not having run away before. He tried to clear his throat to keep him distant, but the god put his hand on his cheek anyway. Percy's breath was shaking. He didn't want to die for a body swap thing. That was stupid, and awful, and totally inappropriate. He at least expected to die in a glorious way.

“My son,” Hades began stroking his cheek fondly, “I know how you feel. I know you'll always feel misunderstood and unaccepted in this world. This is the sad fate of my children. But you're an extremely powerful boy, a great hero and I'm so proud of you. You can go if you want, but please don't hide. Not from me. I've spent centuries hiding from my family. Was is worth it? Not even a bit.”

Percy frowned. He wasn't _seriously_ expecting that. None of that. “I-I promise I'm not,” he nodded slowly, “f-father. I'm fine.”

Hades smiled – for real. He _smiled_ – and – no fucking way – he leaned down to kindly kiss his forehead. “Go ahead, then. Tell your sister to give me a call.” Percy was petrified. Was all of that seriously happening? That was more than he had with his father Poseidon as a contact. He managed to nod, anyway. He was ready to turn his back and leave, but suddenly he remembered that he had no idea of how doing it without shadow travelling. And he had no idea how doing that, too.

“Father?”

Hades smiled again. “Yes?”

“Ehm... you know. I feel a bit tired or something. Could you... I mean, if you can, could you give me a hand going back to camp Half Blood without making me shadow travel? You know...”

The god frowned in amusement. “That's a new one. I usually have to tie you on a chair to make you stay here a bit more when you're tired. And now you don't want to shadow travel? Well. Anyway. As you want.” He rummaged in his pocket and handed Percy a black pearl. “There. Break this on the floor and think of a place you want to go to.”

Percy took it in his hand and frowned. “Ah, nice. Like Poseidon's pearls?”

Hades' face went black – more than usual, anyway. “My brother stole the idea from me, Nico.”

Percy snorted sarcastically and then chuckled, completely forgetting that he was hiding the fact that he actually _wasn't_ Nico. “Sure as shit he did.”

“... Excuse me?” The god was looking at him with a deadly serious expression. The same expression he remembered seeing on Nico when he was mad. Percy immediately realized his mistake.

“I'm sorry!” He raised his hands in defeat, being careful not to drop the pearl. “I was joking. Poseidon is... a _seaweed brain_. You've got the greatest ideas, f-father.”

Hades stared at him with anger for another couple of seconds and then _chuckled_. Like, seriously chuckled. “That's a good one. Never heard of that.” Percy forcedly smiled at him and tried not to blush. “Now go, son. See you soon.”

Percy nodded slowly. “Of course. See you soon.” He threw the pearl on the floor and intensely thought about Camp Half Blood, Half Blood Hill.

** **

Percy appeared exactly beside Thalia's Tree with a perfect view of the whole camp. Everything seemed fine, so he took his time to carefully get down from the hill without falling or stumbling. He still had troubles walking in a body that wasn't his. When he reached the Big House, he immediately noticed that there was no one.

Weird.

In the Big House there always was someone. Even if just one single person. Chiron didn't like to leave it under no one's supervision. Frowning with concern, he directed himself towards the arena. Hopefully he was going to find Chiron there. But when he crossed the empty volleyball field, he noticed that something big was going on in the infirmary. He could hear the voices from the distance. Someone was shouting and a group of people were arguing animatedly. Then he glanced at a white horse – even if he couldn't see it properly from there – and he got that it was Chiron. Percy began running towards them.

The more he approached the infirmary, the more he understood what was going on. Hell was breaking loose. There were people shouting horrible things at each other, other campers were crying, some others were desperately trying to talk to Chiron who was overwhelmed by all the questions. Annabeth had her arms crossed on her chest while Jason whispered something to her ear. The girl didn't even seem to be listening to him. And then...

 _Oh man_.

Right there, sitting on the wooden stairs of the infirmary deck there was _him_. His body. _He himself_. Percy Jackson had his head in his hands, looking pissed - more than desperate - for all that situation, trying really hard not to kill someone. The real Percy got immediately angry and quickened his pace, finally reaching that big mess of a situation that was going on. He pointed his middle finger at the fake Percy and everybody gasped in surprise, retreating to make him pass freely. Everyone went silent. Annabeth and Jason stiffened.

The fake Percy stood up and winced horribly at the sight. “What the hell _am I_ wearing?! Where did you find that t-shirt?! I was sure I had burned it!”

Percy kept pointing his finger at his clone. Well, at his own body. Anyway. That whole situation was confusing. “I wore a yellow t-shirt. Do you have a problem with this?!”

“Of course I do! Get rid of that _immediately_!”

“No fucking way! Tell me what you did! What is going on?!”

The fake Percy – well, _Nico_ – frowned with indignation and put his hands on his hips. Since that was a gesture Percy never used to do, the real Percy heard Leo chuckling from the distance. Someone slapped him on the face and he went silent again. “What _I_ did?! Percy! That's all your fault!”

“My fault?! How is this my fault?!”

Chiron stepped between them and opened his arms to separate them and avoid something worse than a simple _discussion_. In fact, Nico was ready to punch the other boy in the face. “Now everybody calms down. Percy. Nico. You come with me to the Big House. We have to talk.”

Annabeth walked towards them. “I'm coming, too.” Chiron just nodded.

The small group left the infirmary under everybody's surprised gazes.

When they managed to reach the Big House, Annabeth closed the door and Mr. D. materialized in front of them. He snorted and took a seat at his desk – a green table beach that was probably gonna break soon. The god crossed his hands over the surface, he raised an eyebrow sceptically and stared at Nico and Percy for a few instants. “So. Can someone please explain to me what is going on?”

Percy took a deep breath, but got interrupted by Nico before he could have even begun talking. “It happened that Percy surely messed with something which went horribly wrong and then _this_ happened.” He pointed at his own chest with despair.

“I messed?!” Percy turned around to look at him and got slightly mad for the fact the now he was shorter than Nico. Well, shorter than his own body. It was kinda weird to look at himself from that angle. It was driving Percy insane. “I didn't do anything!”

Chiron opened his arms between them like he had just done in front of the infirmary. “ _Calm down_. Percy. You said something about Eros yesterday. Can you repeat it?”

Annabeth gasped and covered her mouth in surprise. “Right...”

Nico paled. He _perfectly_ remembered Eros. He had had a little disagreement himself with the god just a couple of years earlier in Croatia. That was bad. That was really, _really_ bad. “Oh Gods Percy, what did you tell him?!”

Percy blushed furiously and began stuttering. “Nothing! I just... I refused to answer his questions and he said...”

“Yeah?” Chiron pressed him, making Percy blush even more.

“He said that he was going to make me pay for that by... by showing me how hard it can be to put yourself in... in another person's shoes.” He swallowed hard.

Nico snorted loudly and widened his arms with indignation. “Of course he said that! Dumbass! You had to tell Mr. D. _immediately_!”

Chiron stopped Nico's ravings by raising a hand at him, always staring at Percy seriously. “What else?”

Percy bit his lower lip in embarrassment. “Well... he said... he said that he was going to pick the person I mostly cared about. But I suppose... I think he just picked one of my friends or something.”

The centaur nodded slowly and Percy took the chance of that brief moment of silence to glance at Nico in his body. He was staring at the floor, looking deeply confused and lost. Even Annabeth was staring at him, but she had a knowing look on her face. Percy wondered if she had seen this coming. Probably yes. Annabeth knew about everything before it was going to happen.

Chiron interrupted Percy's thoughts with a question. “Did Eros say anything about how to get out from this situation? Some kind of hint?” Percy shook his head in resignation. He was being honest. Eros had been deadly serious in not giving him any hint about what he was talking about. Percy had tried to ask, failing miserably. “All right then. The best we can do now is that you two stay here at camp. Nico, don't you even try to protest,” he quickly said before Nico could have said anything, “then... then I think that the Athena's cabin could try to find a solution? Maybe look for similar episodes in mythological events?” He questioningly gazed at Annabeth.

The girl smiled briefly. “Sure, Chiron. We'll work hard to find a solution.”

“Great. From now on... that's it. There's nothing we can do. Percy, if anything helpful comes to your mind, you're begged to tell me.” Percy let himself go into a long, resigned sigh and just nodded. Nico had crossed his arms on his chest and looked vaguely murderous. The water into Mr. D.'s glass was dangerously shaking.

“You can go now. Watch out. Both of you.”

Nico and Percy nodded, and the water stopped shaking when Nico left the room. Annabeth reassuringly smiled at Percy and left the room afterwards, running towards her brothers and sisters.

“Well,” Dionysus gaily said all of a sudden, “we never get bored here!”


	2. A Complicated Solution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys. I am so. So. SO _FREAKING_ HAPPY for the comments I recieved for the first chapter. It's unbelievable. I'm serious. THANK YOU.
> 
> (WARNING: A bit angsty. Sorry.)

Percy stormed out from the Big House when he realized that Nico and him had to talk if they wanted a remote possibility to survive _that thing_ without killing each other. He run after the boy for a few metres and then grabbed his wrist in the middle of the strawberries field. Nico – and Gods it was _weird_ to look at _himself_ turning around and staring at him from a few centimetres above – looked so pissed that it was unbelievable.

“Don't touch me.”

Percy immediately let go of him and sighed thoroughly. “Listen, Nico. I'm sorry. I didn't know that Eros was going to do such a thing. I couldn't even think it was possible in general.”

Nico crossed his arms on his chest and began tapping his foot on the grass. Percy found himself thinking that it was a weird gesture coming from _him_. “You never think, Percy. Ever. When you get mad... you completely forget about everything.”

“That is not true!” Percy frowned. The boy was being inexplicably mean to him. “I care about all of my friends. All the campers. All the world, for fuck's sake. Don't you dare say such a thing about _me_.”

Nico snorted loudly and rolled his eyes, whispering to himself. “Yeah, exactly... stupid perfect Percy Jackson and-”

“I'm right here.”

“Yes. I _know_.” The son of Hades let himself go into a long and tired sigh. He rubbed his eyes. “Okay. Please. Don't make this whole thing weird or anything. Let's try to be... decent and dignified. All right?”

Percy frowned. “I was really thinking of a haircut to be honest.”

Nico reduced his eyes to a _so_ thin line that Percy got scared. The boy approached him slowly and pointed his index finger directly at his chest. “Don't. You. Dare. Cutting my hair. _Ever_.” With every word, he poked him on the t-shirt. “And don't you dare ever dress me like _this_ again. Am I clear?”

The son of Poseidon smirked teasingly – something _extremely_ weird to see on Nico's face – and crossed his arms on his chest with amusement. “What about a Finding Nemo t-shirt?”

Nico's breathing quickened much to Percy's entertainment. “Percy... I'm not fucking around. Don't-”

“Or maybe a pair of short Bermuda.”

Nico began shaking his head with terror. “ _No_. No... I-”

Percy winked at him knowingly. “Yes. You shave your legs. _I know_.”

Nico blushed furiously. He had forgotten about it. It was a habit for him by now. “Shit. Percy, don't make fun of me _ever_ or-”

The son of Poseidon went suddenly serious. “By the Gods, Nico! We're friends. I would never do these things! I'm just trying to play this down. If we can't change the situation, we could at least try not to get mad at each other. I don't fucking care if you like your legs smooth!”

Nico studied Percy's facial expression for a few instants. “I don't believe you.”

“Well, maybe the t-shirt part...”

“ _Perseus_.”

Percy laughed lowly and raised his hands in defeat. “All right. I'm serious now. I'll be good, I promise.” When he noticed that Nico had relaxed a bit, he smiled at him. “How do you shadow travel anyway? Can you teach me?

The son of Hades looked at him with a straight face and then scratched his chin pensively. “Ehm... no.”

“ _Wha_ \- why?!”

Nico shrugged. “Too dangerous.”

Percy snorted and nodded in agreement seconds later. “Well. Maybe you're right. By the way, I _saw_ what you did with that water into Mr. D.'s glass. Nico, be careful with that.”

“I couldn't control it.”

The son of Poseidon nodded seriously. “Yeah. That's exactly what I'm talking about. The best you can do is try to control your emotions, at least. I made the Argo II pipes explode once.”

Nico sighed and glanced around him at the strawberries under the bright light of the sun. “Okay. I'll try then. Listen... I tried to take a shower this morning, but-”

“You have to concentrate and ask to the water to actually get you wet.”

The boy frowned in disappointment. “Gosh Percy! Your life is a nightmare!”

Percy laughed loudly. “It's nothing for me! I'm used to it. Anyway, I think we should sleep in the other's cabin. At least we have clothes and stuff there. We have to swap them. It would be a mess otherwise.”

Nico nodded in agreement. “Yeah.”

They stayed in hush for a moment. It was a bit tense. Percy wondered if Nico was thinking about what Eros had said to him. ' _The person he cared the most about_ '. What was Nico thinking about that? Did he care? Percy had been hiding his feelings towards the boy since forever. He was so afraid of them that he had begun pondering that maybe - just _maybe_ – if he had concentrated enough, they could have disappeared. After the break up with Annabeth, he was terribly afraid to fall in love again. No one knew about Nico. Absolutely no one.

But obviously Eros did. He should have expected it.

Nico broke the silence after a couple of minutes. “I'm gonna lay down a bit. I feel... I need rest. You get tired extremely easily in this body of yours.”

Percy chuckled and then nodded. “That's because you messed with the water. Ehm, Nico?”

“Yeah?” He raised an eyebrow at him. Percy winked mischievously.

“Don't do _anything_ weird when you're alone, okay?”

Nico blushed furiously and showed him his middle finger, running towards Poseidon's cabin with Percy's laugh on the background.

** **

The days began flying away without evident signs for that situation to change. If possible, it was getting worse. Annabeth had no idea of what to do and it had already been two weeks now. The library books had a very few stories about bodies swaps, and so she had a very few ideas of how to solve the problem. All good things.

Nico was causing big troubles to the whole camp. The day after their conversation in the Big House, he made a giant wave assail the whole arena because a Demeter's kid had managed to get him angry as hell. Said kid almost drowned. Some nights later at campfire someone had made a fun comment about him, resulting in one of Leo's projects sink all of a sudden and without any evident reason. Nico used to disappear when something like that happened, just to be found laying at the bottom of the lake hours later, trying to avoid everyone.

One could say that he wasn't feeling completely all right.

On the other hand, Percy was causing problems as well. Like that night in which he woke everyone up by screaming like a maniac at the sight of a skeleton kindly tapping on his shoulder with a coffee in his hand - “You looked thirsty, my Lord. Hades sent you an Espresso.” Or that other time in which he casually made the Earth swallow an entire platform which the Apollo's cabin was working on for their next show - Will Solace hadn't looked at him in the eyes for an entire week -. But the worst thing had happened when he had got really, _seriously_ scared. He was taking a night guard in the woods and a monster had attacked him. Since he still felt insecure to fight in Nico's body, he had panicked more than usual. He made himself shadow travel to Vienna that night. Pleasant enough, but not so practical. Luckily he had managed to buy a Klimt souvenir t-shirt and go back to camp without no one noticing.

Nico had stared at his new shirt for the whole day after, a questioning look on his face. He never asked for explanations though. At least the t-shirt looked good on him.

But finally, one day, Chiron called Percy to the Big House. “Bring Nico with you, please,” the centaur had said. Percy regained a bit of faith and Nico had looked pleased to hear about that, too.

When they reached the Big House and closed the door behind them, they noticed that Annabeth was already there – with Piper as well. The daughter of Aphrodite had apparently just come back from New Rome. When she glanced at the both of them, she frowned with amusement. “Gosh, Percy. How _the hell_ are you dressed?!”

Nico turned around to attentively look at Percy, when he noticed that- oh, _no man_. He _wasn't_ wearing capri pants. He had... Percy had _rolled_ the hem of his favourite black jeans to make them look like _that_. It was something ridiculously hideous. Nico held his breath. “Those... those are... what have you done to my jeans?”

Percy shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. “It's fucking July and I'm not going to boil hot because you refuse to wear short pants. I'm not even sorry about this.”

“But you wore them with Converse?! What the hell?! Do you have any sense of style or-”

“Good morning, campers,” Chiron interrupted them with a teasing smile, entering the room in his centaur form with a pile of books on his back. “I'm glad to have you all here.”

Nico kept staring at Percy's feet with desperation in his eyes. That was how Percy went around camp? Dressed like a broke fashion blogger? He had a _reputation_ , for the Gods' sake! He got _style_. Everyone knew that! This kind of things made his heart actually ache. Capri pants with Converse – not to mention the white socks perfectly visible, gaily popping out from the shoes - ? Nico could have died right in that moment. Every single day, he paid great attention to make Percy look decent. Nico had never seen the boy dressed _so good_. And the son of Poseidon repaid him _that way_? Capri pants and Converse? It was outrageous.

Percy kept not giving a single fuck about it, apparently oblivious to Nico's disappointment.

“Annabeth and Malcolm finally found something that could help us.” Nico closed his eyes and began praying in his head. “But we needed Piper to talk to you about it. She agreed to come back to camp earlier just for you.”

Percy raised an eyebrow. “Piper? Why?”

The girl raised an eyebrow and bent her head to a side. “You're welcome, anyway.”

“Yeah. Thanks. But why?”

Chiron took a deep breath, gaining everyone's attention. “Because this is a love affair. And Piper is the counsellor of Aphrodite's cabin. She's the most qualified.”

The son of Poseidon blushed furiously. The fact that he was in Nico's pale body made the fact even more evident. “Love _what_?! This situation has nothing to do with _love_.”

“Percy. Eros himself did this. I think it clearly has to do with love.”

Percy swallowed hard and took a quick glance at Nico by his side. The boy was staring at the floor absently. The water in the small aquarium in the corner of the room was swirling. Percy frowned in realization. That used to happen a lot to him. The water did that when he was anxious as hell. Was Nico anxious? Why? He used to think that the son of Hades actually didn't give a shit about him. What if... _what if_ he was being wrong? That could have changed everything.

“The point is,” Piper said, walking towards Chiron's back and grabbing a book. “Aphrodite used to do this, too. She made this to... well, to people that were oblivious to each other's feelings. Obviously, this is partially incorrect in this case. Eros just wanted an excuse to cause Percy some troubles. But still. My mother did that in the name of love. Eros has a more vindictive motive, let's put it that way. The concept is almost the same in any case.”

Percy frowned. “I'm not following.”

Piper sighed, opening the book to the right page. She went silent for a bit while she read, nodding to herself, and then she closed it again. “Yeah. As I was thinking. We don't need these books. The only probable way to get out from this situation is to confess the other... an _uncomfortable_ truth,” she coughed casually, trying not to look slightly embarrassed. “Something that is making you feeling miserable about the other. About the relationship between you, of course.”

Annabeth looked at her with confusion. “I didn't get it properly, either.” Percy raised an eyebrow at those words. Since when Annabeth didn't get _things_?

The daughter of Aphrodite looked nervous. “The problem is that I absolutely cannot tell you this directly. You two have to come to the right conclusion by yourself or the curse is not going to break.”

“So you precisely know what they have to do but you can't tell them?” Annabeth asked.

Piper nodded and bit her lower lip with worry, looking at Percy and Nico again. “I'm sorry. These are the rules. I can't mess with a curse like this one. You two could stay in the other's body for the rest of your lives otherwise.”

Percy paled in terror. “No fucking way. Can't you give us a hint?”

Piper seriously stared at Percy in the eyes like she could read his mind, making the boy shiver. She then began slowly approaching him, never breaking the eye contact. “Percy,” she briefly glanced at Nico, who still seemed to be distant from everything that was happening in the room, “I think... I think you know what I'm talking about. You-”

“Piper. That's enough. It's too dangerous,” Chiron warned her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I know you'd like to help them. But you just said it. We _can't_.” The girl nodded and reassuringly smiled at Percy.

The son of Poseidon seemed to be on another planet. It was like his eyes had lost every sign of life. He now understood why Nico often looked like he was dead on the inside. Percy had noticed that a constant and weird black aura used to follow him everywhere he went, making him feel more sad and more anxious than ordinary people did when something bad happened. He wondered how Nico managed to handle it. He wondered if that depended on the fact that he was a child of Hades or just because... because that was a tiny part of Nico still inside of his body. The part which had been irredeemably broken so many years earlier.

“Thanks Piper,” Nico's low voice took everyone by surprise. He hadn't said a word since the beginning of the conversation. “I think I'll go now.” Without any other word, he left the Big House much to everyone's concern. His voice had sounded lost and broken, making Percy silently gasp.

The son of Poseidon used to think he was the only one to know about that specific tone of voice coming from _him_. That tone of voice sounding pathetic, miserable, weak. He seriously hoped that Nico wasn't feeling like that.

“Percy. I beg you to reflect a lot on what Piper has just said,” Chiron suggested, smiling reassuringly at him. “I think that we all know that Nico is a bit... _restrained_ and difficult to talk to, but I suggest that you could try to make him talk to you about this. I'm pretty sure he'd do it, if it were you to ask for it.” He winked knowingly, making Percy even more confused than before. “Now go. I think we all have things to do today.”

Percy limited himself to just nod and then left the building.

That _hadn't_ been a good new.

** **

When Percy noticed that Nico had no serious intention to talk to him ever again, he began feeling pissed. A _lot_. How were they supposed to sort things out without talking? It wasn't his fault! Well, maybe just a bit. But still. It was not like Percy had woken up a day deciding to get Eros mad at him. Right? Nico had no actual reasons to avoid him like he had been doing since their conversation with Piper in the Big House. There was something missing.

He tried to approach the boy several times, but Nico always managed to fly away. _Damn_. Percy used to think that that was connected to the fact that he could shadow travel and stuff, but soon he had to change his mind. That was a Nico's special ability. _Disappearing_. It had nothing to do with him being a son of Hades. Even in Percy's body, he managed to do that perfectly.

So, when Percy finally succeeded in trapping the boy in a toolshed, he grinned in victory. Nico still hadn't noticed, concentrating in the effort of finding an empty basket for the strawberries. He turned around pensively, thinking about the Gods knew what, when he realized that Percy was blocking the door with his body. Well, _his_ body. It was still a shock to see himself going around camp without any control on that.

Nico froze, the basket still in his hands. “Percy.”

Percy bent his head to a side and smiled widely. “Hi. Long time no see, mh? I thought you were dead.”

“Percy what do you want?”

The son of Poseidon's smile disappeared to make room to a sarcastic facial expression. “What do _I_ want, you ask? Gods. I don't know. _Maybe_ I want my body back. What the hell of a question is this?!”

Nico glanced around the tiny room with anxiety, remembering that he couldn't shadow travel out from there. Obviously. “Yes. I know that. But I think we both know that what Piper said makes no sense.” He blushed slightly.

“I don't know, Nico. But I'm pretty sure we have to talk. We have to try. Chiron and Piper spurred me to ask you about... feelings and stuff. Are we friends at least?”

Percy's genuinely worried gaze made Nico holding the mean comeback he was preparing in his mind. He sighed thoroughly. How could he say to Percy Jackson that... _Gods_. He couldn't even tell that to himself. He had been struggling about what he felt for Percy for _years_ and now he had been forced into that situation. Nico felt miserable. “Ehm... of course. Yes. We're friends.”

The other boy raised an eyebrow at him. “Really? Woah. I didn't even notice. Weird friendship we have.”

Nico wanted to punch Percy in the face. He felt _everything_ for him but friendship. Anger, affection. Resentment, desire. Jealousy, love. Percy was the cause of all his troubles and Nico was sure about it. He had been having fantasies about him since the moment he knew what a fantasy was. Everything was about Percy. Kissing Percy, hugging Percy, laughing with Percy, having sex with Percy. His entire world revolved around Percy.

“You're gonna shut your mouth for a long time still?”

The son of Hades raised his head to look at him. He was trying really hard not to run away from that situation. “Percy. Please. This is not the right moment.” He swallowed, holding back a tear which was struggling to come out from the corner of his eye.

Percy frowned angrily and widened his arms in pure disbelief. “Not _the right moment_?! Nico you're acting like I'm stalking you on purpose! You're living in my fucking body! I live in yours. Doesn't this bother you?!”

“Of course it does! But-”

“But _what_?! If Piper said that the only way to get out from this situation is to talk about our feelings, we're gonna fucking talk about our feelings! The sooner, the better. Can't you understand it?”

Nico's face darkened. “Piper said _a lot_ of things.”

“What do you mean?,” Percy asked, raising and eyebrow in confusion. “I know what she said. I was there.”

“She said that _you knew_ what she meant. So. What is this thing that you know, Jackson?” Nico was deadly serious and deadly angry. Percy could tell it by simply looking at him in the eyes.

He swallowed hard. Nico was right. Piper had said that. And Percy perfectly knew what she was referring to. Being an Aphrodite's daughter probably made her able to indirectly perceive Percy's feelings for Nico, and Nico's feelings for Percy as well. But if that was the only solution to their problem – to _finally_ confess to the boy -, _why in Poseidon_ didn't he want to say it out loud? Why was he _so_ scared about it? Why had love to be so complicated?

 _Damn_. Percy suddenly understood why there were a shit ton of songs about it.

“She meant... she meant that- well, I don't know what-”

“Liar.”

“Nico! I'm...,” Percy rubbed his eyes in confusion and then looked at him with a plea in the eyes. “Nico _don't_ force me into this. I have... I have a mess in my head. You have no idea. Don't get me wrong. _Please_.” Nico frowned. “I'm just trying to understand if you care about me at least _a little_ before making a total fool of myself.”

Nico nodded angrily. Percy could see his eyes going red and his heart actually ached. The boy was holding back tears. “So you're saying that... you would regret saying anything if you knew that I... that I could think something different about you?”

Percy stared at the ceiling with mad exasperation before looking down at Nico again. Were they talking in _codes_? Like, seriously?! “No. Obviously. It's not like my mind could change after that.”

A tear streamed down Nico's face silently like it had been invited not to let him alone. He choked a sob. Percy had seen _his face_ like that just during some of his terrible nights in which he felt like the world was going to burn to the ground. Percy had seen such an amount of despair on his face just when he was alone. He had never realized how much heartbreaking it could look from the outside. He didn't know _he_ could have looked so lost. He had never realized that.

“So why,” Nico sniffed loudly, wiping the corners of his eyes with his wrist, “why didn't you say _a thing_?”

Percy looked at him, finding himself speechless. _He was too scared to suffer again_. That was why. “I... I...,” Percy realized that he couldn't say it. Not in that moment. Not in that way. “Maybe you're right. We need some time to spend on our own to reflect on this.” Nico nodded, trying not to burst into tears in front of him. “I'll leave you alone.”

“You know,” Nico began, making Percy rest his hand on the door handle with trepidation. “You know that I met Cupid – I mean, _Eros_ – two years ago? I think... I think he took a self reminder not to let this subject drop. He's mad at the both of us, Percy.”

Percy wanted to ask what had happened, but it seemed like a psychological violence in that moment. Nico was vulnerable, weak, falling into pieces in front of him. He didn't want to twist the knife. He limited himself to nod briefly. Percy himself wasn't in a good mood, after all. “Yeah. I think that too. Maybe we should talk when... when we'll be ready. When we'll be _both_ ready. Don't run away when you see me. I won't force you again into this conversation.”

Nico raised his gaze at Percy, his eyes red and swollen. “I won't.”

Percy nodded again and finally decided to leave the toolshed. As soon as he closed the door behind him, he heard his own voice cracking into a desperate cry through the door.

** **

Percy couldn't sleep that night. He was staring at the ceiling of Hades' cabin with a frowned, worried expression. The darkness of the night was almost comforting though. He felt like it was there to keep him company. After Tartarus, Percy used to think that he couldn't stand darkness anymore. But in Nico's body everything was different. He was discovering things about himself that he couldn't believe were possible. He frowned even more when he realized that his thoughts were lingering on Nico _again_.

The amount of despair he had seen on his face hours earlier was unbelievable. Since when the boy was feeling like that? Since when Nico had those conflicting feelings towards him? Gods. Percy used to think that the boy could have never been his friend – never mind _more_ than a friend – after what had happened to Bianca. Percy used to think that Nico was never going to have faith in him ever again. And now he had just discovered that Eros was playing some sick joke with the _both_ of them because they both were hiding something to the other.

Percy was petrified. He had never felt so scared in his entire life. When he was with Annabeth, everything used to be easier. He was younger and more carefree back then. But now that he was nineteen? Every single thing scared him to death. Life itself was scary.

“Ah. I knew something was going horribly wrong when you refused my Espresso.”

Percy gasped in terror and immediately sat up on the mattress, a hand on his chest. His heart was beating so fast that he actually thought it was going to explode. He was panting. Hades was staring at him in the darkness of the room, his hands behind his back and a casual faint smile planted on his godly face.

“L-lord Hades...”

“Yes. I should have noticed about this. But Nico is unpredictable at times, so I didn't focus on the weird behaviour – or the yellow t-shirt -. I should have done it, though.” Hades clapped his hands twice and the lights turned on in the cabin. He chuckled. “I don't actually need to clap my hands to do anything. But it's funny. Don't you think that?”

Percy stared at him in shock. Was that god even real? The Lord of the Dead and Wealth... telling jokes and trying to be cool? _Damn_. His life was getting weirder by the second. “Ehm... not to be impolite, but... what do you want?”

Hades nodded kindly and smiled again. “I'm here to ask for your help.”

“... _my_ help?”

“Yes, Perseus Jackson. _Your_ help. With Nico.”

Percy adjusted his position on the mattress and frowned in deep and genuine confusion. “I don't get it.”

The god approached him – and Percy felt shivers of terror go down his spine – and sat next to him on the bed. He crossed his legs casually, making the fabric of his black toga move harmoniously with the movement and creating a pleasant game of colours and shadows. “You have to _insist_. There is no way that my son is going to make a first move. You, Percy Jackson, are a pretty stubborn demigod. More than the others, anyway. Eros picked this particular curse for you – he could have done better, honestly, but whatever – because he knew that you were not going to give up on Nico like other people would probably do.”

Percy swallowed. He was still recovering from the shock of having Hades sitting on his bed. On _Nico's_ bed. “I used to think that Nico hated me for what happened to... to your daughter, Lord Hades.”

The god took a deep breath calmly. “What a sweet girl. I was sure she was going to succeed in great things. And she did.”

The son of Poseidon couldn't handle but thinking that Hades looked more like a normal person than a god, in that moment. He was supposed to be the most scary god among everyone, but in fact he seemed to be the most human. Percy sighed. “I pretty much got it that Nico has feelings for me. But... I really don't know how to handle it. I'm scared.” Was he really confiding himself to the Lord of the Dead? _Hell_ _yes_ he was.

“You would be foolish not to be. Love is not a joke. And Nico knows it perfectly. More than other people.”

Percy looked at the god with hope. “What do you suggest? What could I do?”

Hades smiled knowingly and sighed thoroughly. “I told you. _Insist_. Don't give up on him. You have no idea what the Fates are planning for you two. That's the funny things about mortals – and demigods as well. They deny the best things to themselves because they fear them too much.”

“I didn't want to give up on Nico.”

The god bent his head to a side in agreement. “Oh. I know this. But everyone needs a little shove from time to time.” Hades stood up on his feet again and distractedly wiped his toga with his hands. “I gotta go now.”

Percy had to repress the instinct to grab the god's vest to let him stay and bombard him with other questions for the whole night. “Lord Hades... did you talk to him?”

Hades chuckled fondly. “I've got years of experience now in knowing that my son isn't going to listen to me. Not until he ends up in tears and desperation, at least. That's when he remembers he has a father.”

“To his defence... we demigods think that we can't keep contacting our godly parents for every single stupid thing that happens to us,” Percy smiled awkwardly, “at least... _I_ can't.”

The god snorted sarcastically. “You have no idea of how untrue this is. Poseidon simply can't shut his damn mouth about you. It's a pain to have him for dinner. He won't talk about anything else. ' _Brother, did you enjoy the pizza? - Ah yes. Like that one time in which Percy used a pizza to suffocate an empousa_.' So annoying.”

Percy was shocked. What... what the hell had he just heard? A sweet smile grew on his face. “That... that is _true_. It happened something like three years ago. Oh Gods,” he whispered.

“The point is,” Hades said, “I seriously gotta go. And your father is under the strict supervision of Zeus. He would contact you more often if he just could. I can do whatever the heck I want because no one is brave enough to tell me anything.” He chuckled gaily. “Remember what I said, anyway. And don't you dare ever refuse a present from _me_ next time.”

Percy nodded in embarrassment and blushed. “A-all right... thank you, Lord Hades.” He looked at the floor when Hades began disappearing from the cabin. He then laid on the mattress again, taking his head in his hands.

“What the fuck is happening to my life?”

Percy sighed. He was feeling so stressed, so exhausted, so _out of place_. He began distractedly scratching his neck and breathing shakily. He then frowned in confusion. Nico's skin was incredibly smooth and sensitive in that spot. His own skin wasn't like that. Just touching his neck was giving him goosebumps.

The boy blushed and began squeezing his arms, his sides and stomach to have any idea of how sensitive Nico's whole body could be. He silently gasped when he reached his thighs. Those _were_ sensitive. He was feeling weirdly flustered. Percy had a clear image of Nico – in the right body, of course – in his mind. And now he was touching _him_. Not directly. But still. He had just realized that... he was getting aroused at the feeling of touching that body which wasn't his own. Nico's body was turning him on.

Percy swallowed hard. _Oh man_. That was _not_ a good thing. He could feel his penis – _Nico_ 's penis - getting hard in his boxers.

“No, no, _no_. C'mon, don't do this to me... think about something horrible. Corpses. Famine. Ehm... broccoli,” Percy began whining. It wasn't working. He wondered if Nico had already had to face that _technical problem_ at a certain point. Percy didn't know if that completely depended on hormones or just on his mind, but if Nico was just slightly influenced by his hormones... well. The boy was fucked. Percy was horny for the majority of the time. There was no way out from it.

He sighed in surrender. “Okay. This calls for drastic measures. Sorry, Nico.”

He struggled to pull down his boxers and awkwardly grabbed his penis, carefully stroking it for a couple of times. Percy sighed again in both resignation and pleasure. Nico's dick felt _good_.

“I've come this far,” he whispered.

He began shamelessly jerking himself off.

Yes. He had come this far.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM PISSED because I posted the first chapter of this fic on April 1st and didn't make a joke about it in the notes. I lost a precious occasion. I'm so disappointed with myself.


	3. A Perfect Conclusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third and last chapter all for you, guys. Enjoy!

It was a sunny and hot morning when Percy decided that he wanted to call his mom. He rummaged into Nico's closet and drawers until he finally found a drachma – as well as a great variety of opened packs of bubblegums, money in general (from a lot of different countries nonetheless), Mythomagic cards and a shit ton of little magazines called _La Settimana Enigmistica_ *. They were full of absurd crossword puzzles and rebuses in Italian -. He directed himself to the lake, happy at the idea that he was going to see his mom's face. He missed her so much that it was unbelievable.

Percy sat on the deck of the lake and smiled at the water. He waited exactly thirty seconds before remembering that the water wasn't going to magically move at his will. Snorting extremely loud at his own stupidity, he managed to kindly kick the surface of the lake, creating a little rainbow and giving him the opportunity to quickly throw the drachma through it. “Oh Iris, please accept my offering. Sally Jackson, New York City,” he politely asked.

After a few seconds, the image of his mom at the stoves in their apartment in New York City came to his sight. Percy smiled widely and called her. “Mom?”

The woman slightly gasped in surprise and turned around towards him with a giant smile planted on her face. Smile that disappeared in exactly a fraction of a second. “Dear boy, I think you called the wrong person.”

Percy chuckled and scratched his neck distractedly. “Ehm... not really, mom. There's something serious I gotta tell you.”

Sally frowned in confusion. That boy kept calling her 'mom' and she was _pretty_ _sure_ he wasn't her son. Then she realized something and widened her eyes in stupor. “You're _that_ boy! You asked me for the permission to make my son bathe in a mortal river in hell. Aren't you? The little Italian!”

The son of Poseidon laughed even louder at that. “Yes, mom. His name is Nico. But I'm actually Percy. Don't look at me like that! I can explain,” he raised his hands with amusement, “really.”

“... Percy?” Sally abandoned her confused facial expression to make room for a totally exasperated one. “Oh by the _Gods_ , what did you do _this time_?!”

Percy explained her the whole story – a short version of it, she didn't need to know the details.

“I can't believe it,” she whispered to herself. She was now sitting on the couch, having followed Percy's suggestion. The last thing he needed was his mom fainting without no one in the room able to help her. “And... how long is this going to last?”

Percy blushed. “Well. Until we... we find a solution. We're really close though.”

“What could be a solution?” Sally asked with concern. It was weird to look at that boy knowing everything about her and her life. She kept forgetting that there actually was Percy inside of that body.

“Ehm... a weird thing about feelings and stuff,” he forcedly chuckled, trying to hide his embarrassment, “Eros' stuff. We'll figure it out eventually.”

The woman raised an eyebrow sceptically. Even if in another person's body, she could recognise one of Percy's lies within metres of distance. “Perseus. What is the thing you're hiding?”

Percy sighed in surrender. He knew what was coming. Sally Jackson was annoyingly clever and intuitive. And he couldn't absolutely lie. The mixture of those two things was lethal for the boy. “Well. It could be that maybe - just _maybe_ \- the only solution to this problem is to open up to the other about our feelings. A confession or something.” He blushed furiously. Sally had no idea that he had a thing for girls _and_ boys as well. He had picked that moment to come out to his mother. Great. Super intelligent. Percy The Genius Jackson.

Sally crossed her arms, laying against the couch pensively, but with amusement. “Mh,” she nodded. She was trying really hard not to laugh. “Well. Finally. I thought you were gonna die before telling me about this. You like _Nico di Caprio_?”

“... di Angelo.”

“Ah. Yes. Sorry.”

Percy scratched his forehead in embarrassment, but decided to let himself go. His mother was everything but homophobic or not open-minded. And most important thing, she _loved_ him. “Yes,” he sighed, finally admitting it out loud even to himself. The memory of his masturbation session a few days earlier was still vivid in his mind. “A lot. And I have no idea of what to do.”

The woman fondly shook her head like she was thinking about something beautiful and funny she had just remembered. “Oh dear. Being a 19 year old wasn't enough for you. You had to be a demigod, too.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing,” she smiled widely, looking at her son in the eyes again. “Forget it. I was feeling nostalgic. You told me you have no idea of what to do?” Percy shook his head sadly. “I do.”

Percy leaned closer and licked his lips in trepidation. He knew that his mother was going to be helpful. As always. “So?

“I suppose you're afraid to put into words what you feel for him. Am I right?” Percy nodded. That conversation was getting better by the second. “Don't put it into words, then. Put it into actions.”

“Ehm,” Percy frowned. “That is to say? I have no idea how-”

“Go ahead and kiss him. That's enough the majority of the times. It's quick.” She snapped her fingers. “You count to three and you do it, without risking saying something stupid.”

Percy smiled briefly. “I don't know mom. I'm not brave enough to do it.” He glanced at Sally, who was sarcastically staring at him with an eyebrow dangerously raised. “... or maybe yes?”

“You killed monsters and titans and giants, and you can't kiss a boy. Well. I failed as a parent.”

The son of Poseidon couldn't help but genuinely laugh in amusement. Why hadn't he called her earlier?! Stupid Percy. Stupid idiot Percy. “Thanks mom. I think you're right. I'll count to three and... and luckily it's going to work.”

Sally frowned and laid closer towards the image of Nico di Angelo with the soul of his son trapped inside of him. “Do you really think that Eros did this just to put you into troubles, Percy?”

“Obviously.”

She cracked a smile. “You're so oblivious sometimes. I think he did that because you two were suffering too much on your own. Don't even try denying it. I know you, Percy. I can tell when you're not fine.”

Percy nodded sadly, playing with a hole on his knee in Nico's jeans. “Yeah... I feel painfully alone.”

“What are you waiting for, then? Can you please tell me?” The boy raised his gaze at the woman and frowned with fear. _He had no idea_. “Go look for him!” She spurred him, clapping her hands to make Percy waking up from his daydreaming. “C'mon!”

The son of Poseidon gasped in stupor and stood up on the deck. “Oh _Gods_ stop doing this! I pretty much got it!” He raised his hands in surrender. “I'm going.”

Sally smiled widely and nodded in agreement. “And, Percy?”

“Yes?”

“Next time you call me, I want to see you in your own body. _Please_. Not that I don't like the little Italian, but I kinda fell in love with your green eyes when you were born.”

Percy blushed, but managed to smile at his mom. “Of course. Bye. I love you mom.”

“I love you, my little hero.”

The Iris Message closed.

** **

Percy studied a plan for the whole afternoon. He didn't want to do anything without a plan. And that was completely Annabeth's fault, nonetheless. Being with the girl for almost three years had modified the way in which he did things. Organisation. Programmes. Schedules. Basically a nightmare.

Since he was pretty sure that he was going to succeed, he took his time to find a moment in which Nico was alone and in a good place. He tried not to think about the fact that maybe he was procrastinating for the simple reason that he still was scared as fuck. No matter that he had finally decided to do something. He couldn't help but feeling anxious.

So, when Percy glanced at Nico directing himself in the woods with a book in his hands, he knew that he had to act. Now or never. He had exactly one hour before the horn was going to announce dinner. Since he had managed to handle the shadow-travel thing without ending up in Australia, he waited to see where the boy was going before moving. He had chosen a spot under the oaks on the opposite edge of the lake.

Percy smiled. That was his favourite place as well. He had a perfect view of both camp and the lake from there. Nico surely benefited of the tranquillity of the water. It was like having a cat on your lap constantly purring at you. It was surprisingly calming. And Percy knew that perfectly.

When the shadows engulfed him, Percy concentrated in the effort of ending up next to Nico on the other side of the lake. Luckily, that spot was full of shadows since the trees basically didn't give any room for the sunlight to sneak through their leaves. After a few seconds, Percy found himself behind the son of Hades, who had now the book opened on his thighs. He was fully concentrated on his reading and didn't even notice the noise coming from Percy's feet stepping on the leaves he had just landed on.

Percy smirked mischievously. He was surely going to scare the shit out of him. But who cared? He surely didn't. When he noticed that Nico wasn't giving any sign of having heard him, he took a deep breath. That was _the moment_. His life was going to get better or worse. There was no way in between.

“Nice tattoo you have on your lower back, anyway. Never noticed that.”

Percy gasped in surprise when he heard Nico talking before giving him the opportunity to say anything. He hadn't even torn his eyes off from the pages of his book yet.

He swallowed hard. _Damn_ Nico di Angelo. “Ah. Yes. I did it in memory of my weak spot. It's a tiny-”

“Pegasus. Yes. I know that.” Nico closed the book and raised his head at him, smiling awkwardly. “It's pretty beautiful.”

Percy smiled back. “Thanks.” He frowned amusedly seconds later. “What were you doing when you noticed it?

Nico widened his eyes and blushed furiously. “W-well. Nothing. I was changing clothes and I saw it in the mirror.”

The son of Poseidon grinned knowingly. “Sure you were."

“What are you insinuating, Jackson?” Nico was deeply embarrassed.

Percy shrugged and approached the big oak, sitting next to him on the grass. “Nothing. Forget it.” He wiped his hands distractedly and then smiled at the boy mischievously. “Do you like what you see in the mirror every evening?”

Nico's cheeks went completely red. When Percy noticed that he was now pointing the book at his chest, he couldn't hold a laugh. “Stop this. Stop this sick joke immediately. I'm not gonna sink to your level of depravity. _Ever_.”

“Oh! Depravity! What are you talking about?! I just asked an innocent question. Do you like it _or not_?” Percy kept giggling under Nico's mad gaze.

“I'm not gonna answer. Leave me alone with my book.” Nico tried to hide the flush on his face by opening the book again and pretending to read. Too bad that he didn't have a mop of hair to cover his cheeks like he was used to in his body.

Percy recomposed himself and decided to drop the subject. He was there for a specific reason: put an end to that ridiculous situation. He missed his body, he missed his powers, he missed being able to reach the high shelves in the library. And, obviously enough, he totally missed talking to Nico and looking at him in those chocolate brown eyes of his. Those eyes which made his soul melt every single time.

Yes. That body swap thing had to finish.

“Nico. I came here in peace. Stop playing dumb... we both know what eventually is going to happen.”

Nico closed the book again and took a deep, shaky breath. He didn't look at him. “I can't figure it out, Percy.”

The son of Poseidon frowned in confusion. “You can't figure out what?”

“You,” he blushed, “you... caring about _me_. This makes no sense.”

“Why shouldn't it make sense? What you just said makes no sense!” Percy said, widening his arms in exasperation.

“Because,” Nico raised his head to finally look at him. His eyes were red. “I am weird. I am a _freak_. People are scared of me. They say I kill people for fun. Like...”

“Don't you dare saying ' _like Jamie_ ', because I'm gonna stab you to death with this heavy sword of yours otherwise.” Percy patted at the weapon hanging from his hip to highlight his point. “No one thinks you killed Jamie. No one thinks you killed anybody.”

Nico sniffed loudly. “Okay. Maybe not killed. But surely helped with that. Just my presence is a harbinger of death and sorrow. Haven't you heard it? Don't you remember Octavian?” A tear began sliding down his face, but Nico quickly wiped it away. “So that's what you're putting yourself into. You have no idea of how bad I have it every day, Percy. Run away until you can.”

Percy stared at him in shock for some instants. The boy in front of him was so broken, so lost, so lonely. Why couldn't he believe that someone could have possibly liked him? It was by far the saddest thing he had ever heard of. It was the time to make that stop.

“Nico,” Percy took a deep breath, “I'm going nowhere. I want to stay exactly where I am.”

The boy snorted sarcastically and shook his head. “You're allergic to advices, aren't you?” He then lowered his gaze at the grass under his feet.

Percy didn't know what to say. He had a knot in his throat. And that meant only one thing.

Without giving Nico any warning, he grabbed his wrist and made him turning around towards him. Nico's face was the image of stupor and confusion. When the son of Poseidon grabbed his neck with both his hands, everything was suddenly clear for the boy. He widened his eyes and tried to push Percy away. Too late.

One.

Two.

 _Three_.

Percy connected their lips together with urge – trying to ignore the fact that he was actually kissing _himself_ – and squeezed his eyes shut. Nico was struggling to push him away, grasping Percy's arms with strength. Percy could feel him panting in shock against his lips, but he smirked anyway. That wasn't all the strength that _his_ body was capable of. That was _nothing_. Nico was only pretending he had not wished to kiss him for a lifetime.

The son of Poseidon sneaked his tongue inside the other mouth. Nico finally stopped struggling, sighing thoroughly in the kiss and letting himself go into Percy's arms. Percy wrapped them around Nico's waist and hugged him, grasping his back with passion while the other encircled his face with his hands. They were kissing fiercely and Percy felt his head going dizzy for the pleasure. He could sense something wet on his cheek and realized that Nico was crying

Percy let go of his back and copied the boy's gesture, kindly grabbing his face between his hands. He broke the kiss with a wet, unequivocal noise and opened his eyes again.

The son of Poseidon frowned in pure disbelief and let go of Nico's face, who looked as shocked as he was. “What the... _why the fuck_ am I still in your body?!”

Nico began frantically shaking his head in confusion. “I don't know!

“Oh _fucking_ -,” Percy covered his mouth with his hands for a few seconds. “Nico. Do you like me? I mean. Did you do this because you wanted to? Have I forced you?”

“Of course not! I like you. Why didn't it work?!”

“Because Percy Jackson has to apologize _first_.”

The boy both gasped in terror at the sound of someone speaking behind them. They stood up at the same time – without noticing that they were holding hands - just to come face to face with the cause of all of their troubles and miseries. They were facing Eros in the flesh, in all his glory, dryly smiling at them with his hands crossed behind his back. He was wearing a white elegant suit with a red tie. In the complex, he looked kinda gorgeous and beautiful with his light red eyes and the long black hair.

Percy blinked a couple of times before being able to formulate any kind of thought. Nico came to his aid. “Lord Eros. Why-,” he coughed awkwardly, “why does Percy have to apologize?”

Eros dangerously raised an eyebrow at him. “ _Why_?”

Nico frowned in confusion and turned his head to look at Percy. The son of Poseidon was casually glancing at the leaves on the branches above their heads. “... Percy?”

Percy bit his lower lip and finally took the courage to look at the god. “Aehm... Sorry.”

Eros crossed his arms on his chest sceptically. “Sorry about _what_ , exactly?”

“Sorry that,” Percy blushed furiously, “sorry that I called you a... a bored douchebag with a couple of arrows.”

Nico paled even in Percy's skin.

“Ah,” said the god knowingly and nodding his head, “as I was thinking. And then?”

Percy blushed even harder. “I'm... I'm extremely sorry to have suggested to... to forcibly insert them up your anus.”

Eros frowned in confusion. “I'm pretty sure you said ' _stick those fucking things up your ass, you bored douchebag with a couple of arrows_ '. Am I saying it right?”

“Percy,” Nico whispered faintly, “you must be crazy".

The son of Poseidon limited himself to scratch his head almost casually. “Ah. Yes. That's possible.”

Much to the boys' terror, the god approached them with his face suddenly darkened. He gripped Percy's t-shirt and dragged him extremely close to his face, so that their noses were almost touching.

“Next time you say such a thing to me, Perseus Jackson, I'll do something _worse_ than an enjoyable body swap. Try to focus a bit on the idea of eternal damnation. Have I been clear enough?,” he whispered firmly, directly on Percy's lips.

Percy found himself nodding almost immediately. He swallowed hard. “Lord Eros I'm sincerely repented for what I said and I deeply apologize.”

Eros nodded exactly two times before letting go of Percy's shirt, almost making him fell on the grass. “That's more like it.” He wiped his hands on his jacket distractedly. “Now. Let's go down to business. Nico,” he mischievously smiled at him, “I see that you finally decided to follow your heart. Better late than never. I'm satisfied. And about you, Jackson,” he moved his gaze towards Percy, still being slight mad at him. “ _Watch out_. I'm gonna turn a blind eye for what you did the other night in Hades' cabin. Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about.”

Nico frowned in confusion and turned his face to look at Percy, who was blushing furiously. “What did you do?”

“I'll leave this to you. The curse is broken. And never forget that love is nothing to hide from. It will always find you in the end. In a way or another. So, be careful little demigods.”

The boys looked away just in time before the god disappeared, squeezing their eyes shut. Suddenly a cool and light breeze rose from the trees, swirling around them like a little tempest. It smelled like roses and vanilla. Percy felt all his senses disappearing for some instants. He couldn't feel anything anymore. He couldn't see, he couldn't hear. It was like the whole world had suddenly shut around him.

When the fresh air finally stopped twirling seconds later, Percy could sense it again. He opened his eyes, still holding Nico's hand. He immediately perceived the power of the water coming from the lake as well as the warmth coming from the boy's hand in his. One used to think that due to his pale skin and cold temperament, Nico had a cold body as well. There's was nothing more wrong than that. Nico felt hot, deliciously warm between in his fingers and sweetly smooth. And Percy could feel it again.

Nico opened his eyes instants later and frowned in confusion. “I...” he widened his eyes in relief when he noticed that he could hear his own voice again, “I feel weird.”

Percy chuckled and his grip around Nico's hand tightened. “Maybe it's me.”

The son of Hades let go of his hand and wrapped his arms around his body, hugging himself with a dumb smile. He suddenly frowned, though. “... Have I gained weight?”

“It could be,” Percy shrugged, “I found out that in your body I freaking loved enchiladas. Can't explain why. But now I have a fair clue of what being pregnant means, with all the weird cravings for food and stuff. Seriously, Nico. Were you starving yourself or something?”

“No. I'm just sixteen.” Nico slightly blushed when Percy gave him the brightest smile he had ever seen. “I'm constantly hungry.”

Percy chuckled. “Great. What about me? Did you notice anything weird with me? I supposedly have an addiction to pancakes and sugary almonds, but maybe it's just a phase.”

Nico widened his eyes with enthusiasm, pointing at Percy's chest with his index finger. “ _Hell yes_ almonds! I ate casks of that stuff. Wow. I didn't know they tasted so good. And...” He suddenly blushed.

“And what?”

“Nothing. So, now that the curse-”

“ _What_?” Percy approached him and wrapped his arms around Nico's waist without any warning, making him obviously blushing.

Nico blinked quickly for a few times before being able to talk without stuttering. He had imagined Percy hugging him and looking at him so sweetly so many times that he genuinely believed that was a dream. “It's just... it's a bit embarrassing.”

Percy smirked mischievously. “... what?”

Nico's face was redder than tomatoes on a pizza. “You are like... ehm, flustered all the damn time. How is this possible?”

“ _Flustered_?” Percy's smirk grew wider than ever.

“Percy... _please_ ,” he begged, feeling his face as hot as fire, “don't make this awkward. Tell me that you know what I mean.”

The son of Poseidon laughed and kissed Nico briefly on the lips. The boy seemed to be overwhelmed by all those attentions. He wasn't absolutely used to them. Percy nodded, eventually. “I know what you mean. And... can I ask you _how_ did you cope with _it_?”

“I didn't.” Nico glanced around them embarrassingly. He just couldn't look at the other boy in the eyes at that moment. “I took freezing showers or just waited for... for _it_ to calm down.”

Percy laughed again and threw his head back for a second. “What?! Really? But that must have hurt!”

Nico frowned, finally looking at him with a sudden questioning expression in his face. “It did hurt. But... why are you _so_ surprised?”

“Oh you know,” Percy shrugged, “I just am.”

“Damn liar. What- oh no, _you didn't_!” Nico suddenly pushed the boy away, blushing so hard that it was unbelievable. He covered his mouth with his hands, making Percy laugh extremely loud. The son of Hades wanted to both laugh or bury himself alive. “ _That_ 's what Eros was talking about! Isn't it?! Percy!”

Percy coughed a little, trying to stop laughing. When he managed to look decent again, he just sighed. “You caught me with my hands in the cookie jar. I did it.”

Nico whined incomprehensible words in Italian. “You touched me. _Cazzo_. Oh Gods, Percy. I feel so embarrassed. My body is so weird, I just-”

“Ehy,” Percy frowned, grabbing Nico's wrist, “don't say such a stupid thing. For what I saw, your body is totally fine.”

“Is it?” Nico looked genuinely unsure about that.

“Of course! And I totally look forward to seeing it again.” The son of Poseidon winked teasingly. “But now I think I really, _really_ need to change clothes. I'm wearing a black shirt with long sleeves. With buttons. In July.”

Nico smiled. Percy had this power to make him feel at ease even in the weirdest situations. “You honestly look beautiful wearing shirts. I had to buy at least one. This is an Armani shirt! Don't you dare throwing it away!” Nico warned him seriously, pointing his finger at him. “Okay? Promise.”

Percy put a hand on his heart solemnly. “I promise on River Styx that I won't throw this fashionable – even if totally useless – piece of clothing because my boyfriend asked me not to do it.” A thunder echoed throughout the valley in the bright light of late afternoon.

Nico was looking at him with tender confusion. To Percy's eyes, he was adorable. “Your boyfriend?”

“My boyfriend Nico di Angelo. The one and only – if he wants to be my boyfriend, obviously.”

The son of Hades bit his lower lip and smiled awkwardly. He was blushing again. “He wants to.”

Percy laid closer and stroked Nico's cheeks fondly. “That's good news,” he whispered against his lips before kissing him passionately.

The book Nico was reading minutes earlier was laying abandoned and definitely forgotten on the grass.

** **

“Percy! _By the Gods_ , where the hell where you?!”

Nico felt Jason's voice behind him and his wrist being gripped without his permission. He turned around and stared at the blond boy diffidently. Hades' cabin was just behind him. Maybe he could have shadow-travelled, but Jason was still holding him.

“I looked for you for two hours or something. Listen... I know that I'm not supposed to talk to you about this but-”

“Jason.”

“No, Percy. Shut up. Let me talk. I _know_ that I'm not supposed to talk to you about this, _but_ I want to. I'm not blind, Percy. I'm your best friend. I've been for years now. I don't care if you like Nico di Angelo! Honestly, no one cares. He's a boy, all right. So what?! We're children of a bunch of horny gods that fuck all the time with-”

“Jason."

“Shush. With a bunch of other gods and humans and even animals sometimes – well, don't try the last one, it'd be weird – so. My point is. It's fine! I like Nico. He's funny in a creepy way, he's cute, his skeletons jokes are kinda original. So-”

“ _JASON_! Shut the hell up! I'm _not_ Percy. I suggest you not to go any further with this passionate speech or you're gonna make a total fool of yourself.”

Jason let go of his wrist and looked suspiciously at who he thought was Percy for a couple of instants. “How can I be sure about it?”

Nico rolled his eyes with fond exasperation. Jason was by far the most irritating person he had ever met – after Percy, of course -, but he was kinda caring and a sweet person. “Just two words. Cupid. _Croatia_.”

Jason winced in surprise. “Oh. You _are_ Nico. Good news. So you and Percy...?”

The son of Hades blushed, but couldn't hold a smile. “Yeah. Exactly."

“I _knew_ it! Oh Gods! I'm so happy, like, seriously! Oh, come here, _you_!” Jason grabbed Nico's wrist again without any warning and hugged him extremely tight. Like, _super_ tight. Nico didn't know what to do and so limited himself to politely pat on Jason's back with a hand.

“Ehm... thank you,” he said awkwardly, “could you please stop squeezing my body like that, now? I got it. You're happy.”

Jason let go of him immediately. His smile was so wide that Nico wondered if he had a facial paralysis. “And you? Are you happy?”

Nico raised an eyebrow and glanced around him at the other cabins. “Damn. I don't know,” he looked at the boy again. “Finally being with someone I have been head over heels in love with for years... Gods, Jason. I really don't know.”

The son of Jupiter chuckled, scratching his neck distractedly. “I supposed so. Well... I'm happy. Really.”

“You already said that,” Nico pointed out with a teasing smile. “Do you need Percy? He's in his cabin.”

Jason nodded. “Yes. I wanted to convince him to talk to you, but I suppose this has been done already.” He winked at Nico. “So now we can talk about Capture the Flag strategies for tomorrow night.”

“Okay. Uhm, bye then. See you at dinner.”

“Obviously. See you later.” Jason smiled at him again and began directing himself towards Cabin Three.

Nico bit his lower lip distractedly. “Ehm... Jason?” He called, making the boy turning around towards him again.

“Yes?”

“Could you please tell Percy that I found the giant writing on my thigh and that it wasn't funny at all?”

Jason chuckled. “What?! I'm not sure I got it.”

“He wrote ' _dumbass_ ' on my left thigh with a fucking permanent marker.”

Jason laughed loudly for a few moments, wiping the corners of his eyes with his fingers. “So like Percy. Sure. I'll do it.”

Nico chuckled back. “Thank you so much.”

He looked at Jason knocking on Percy's door from the distance and smiled to himself. Maybe he was a dumbass. A dumbass who finally had his sweet dumbass-half by his side.

-

* La Settimana Enigmistica: famous crosswords' magazine that comes out weekly in Italy. Sure as shit Nico shadow-travels to Venice every Monday to go and buy one. No one can tell me otherwise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading *-* epilogue next!


	4. Epilogue

“Nico? Nico! Oh _Gods_ , have you fallen into the toilet bowl or something?!”

Percy called his boyfriend through the bathroom door of Hades' cabin and knocked strongly against it for a couple of times.

“Just a sec!,” Nico screamed from the other side. “I'm doing my hair!”

Percy rolled his eyes in exasperation. “We'll be late. Mom is gonna kill me.”

“Just a second,” the boy repeated, sounding a pit pissed.

“Nico. Your hair is always perfect and you're beautiful. Move your ass.”

The door suddenly opened and Nico came to Percy's sight. The son of Poseidon's mouth dried in an instant. Nico was wearing a black suit with a grey shirt without any tie, and he looked totally gorgeous. He smirked at Percy. Finally, the boy had shut his damn mouth.

“ _Now_ I am ready. Let's go to your mother's book launch.”

Without any warning, Percy grabbed Nico's waist and pulled him closer. He kissed him fiercely and passionately, making Nico moaning in his arms. The son of Hades was stroking his boyfriend's chest with affection. When they separated, he was grinning sarcastically. “I suppose you don't care about being late anymore.”

Percy grinned back. “No. Exactly. But I fear my mother's rage, so we better go. It's not my fault if it takes you three hours to get ready. You're like a girl, seriously.” He let go of Nico's waist. “You have to decide what to wear, do your hair, chose a perfume. Let's not talk about shoes. Thanks to the gods you don't have to do your make up. I've already been with a girl. That part was not pleasant.”

Nico crossed his arms on his chest and raised an eyebrow at him warily. “Percy. Don't make fun of me. Don't make fun of girls. Don't make sexist jokes, if you don't want to be single again.”

“Whatever,” Percy sighed, “girls are damn difficult to deal with. I'm so glad I'm not one.”

“What?” Nico asked him with stupor. “This is the stupidest thing you've ever said. We've been together for two months now and I thought I was ready to hear anything coming from your mouth, but... Well, I was wrong I suppose.” He sighed in exasperation. “Let's go. We need a car.”

Percy rolled his eyes when Nico turned around giving him his back, and then he followed him outside.

** **

The morning after, Percy struggled to open his eyes. He was peacefully rested and the light of the sun sneaking through the curtains of his cabin was relaxing and calming. Maybe he could have stayed in bed for the whole day. Why not? It was a Sunday, after all.

When he turned to the other side, he came face to face with Nico who was placidly sleeping next to him. Percy smiled. That boy was incredibly sweet and beautiful.

The son of Poseidon yawned and sat up on the mattress, rubbing his eyes. He needed to go to the bathroom before falling asleep again. All the champagne he had been drinking for the whole night was struggling to come out from his bladder. He stood up and directed himself to the bathroom, stumbling a bit. Yup. There still was a lot of champagne inside of him.

Percy opened the door distractedly and yawned again. He absolutely wasn't ready for what he saw in the mirror instants later.

He paled in terror, gasping loudly.

“Hell _no_ ,” he whispered.

Percy took his head in his hands and began touching everywhere on his face and ears. His hint of beard had disappeared. When he arrived to his hair... it was _extremely_ long. Curly. It went beyond his shoulders. And his chest...

“... _HELL NO_!”

Nico woke up all of a sudden at the sound of someone screaming from the bathroom. Percy wasn't there. He widened his eyes in worry and tossed the sheets away, getting up from the bed immediately and running towards the bathroom with his sword drawn. He bumped against the door, but ignored the fact. Nico gasped silently and covered his mouth in shock, letting the Stygian sword fall on the floor with a clashing sound.

That surely was Percy. It was unequivocal. He was _exactly_ the same – his face, his height, the colour of his hair and his eyes – but he was _.._.

Nico took a deep breath and the two looked at each other, still being in total shock. Nico's widened mouth slowly curved into an incredulous and faint smile. “Percy, you are...”

“Yes, thank you _a lot_. I noticed that,” he frowned, “my voice. Oh Gods. My _voice_!” He wrapped his hands around his throat. He unequivocally had a _girl_ voice.

Nico coughed amusedly, trying to hide the fact that he was holding a fragrant laugh. “Well. I suppose... I can't say that I'm gay anymore. Isn't it?”

Percy turned around and looked at him in disbelief. “This is _not_. Funny. At _all_.”

“Percy,” Nico finally let himself go into an uncontrolled chuckle, “this _is_ funny. Shit.” Nico burst out laughing, gripping at his stomach and falling on the floor. “Wait until Jason and Leo hear about this! Or worse. Wait until they'll _see_!”

With the sound of Nico's laughing his ass off on the bathroom floor, Percy turned around towards the mirror in resignation. He sighed thoroughly.

“Thanks Eros... thank you so _much_.”

FINE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys. He deserved that.
> 
> Anyway. Here we are *-* it's finished. I'm so happy for the comments, for the kudos, for the kind words, for everything. It was a short but wild ride for me (my first chaptered fic AAAH!!). So... _thank you so much_ for the support.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblrlrlr](http://fedegreen-author.tumblr.com/)


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